NBC Universal sees growth in television, digital

NEW YORK (Reuters) -NBC Universal expects to book higher advance advertising for its television programs this year and better-than-forecast digital revenue as it expands into new outlets, its top executive said on Thursday.

In the company's first investor conference in nearly two years, President and Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said NBC Universal had moved well beyond its network television business to capitalize on entertainment delivered on the Internet or downloaded onto handheld devices.

The company expects to post operating profit growth of about 10 percent, on a 5 percent increase in revenue, in 2008.

"That's obviously just our early look," Zucker told the conference in New York. "We feel good about it."

The upbeat forecasts come as some analysts and investors speculate whether NBC Universal, controlled by General Electric Co., may eventually be spun off from the conglomerate's manufacturing and other businesses.

Zucker highlighted the company's cable properties -- including the top-ranked channels USA and Bravo -- as "the biggest and most important part of our portfolio."

NBC Universal expects to book about $4 billion in advance advertising deals for commercial time across the company during the 2007/08 TV season, up from $3.9 billion a year ago, even as advertisers grapple with a changing ratings system, he said.

The NBC broadcast network, which has sunk to last place in viewer ratings among the biggest U.S. TV networks, is expected to account for about $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion of that sum, about flat from a year ago. Zucker said the advertising impact from its lower ranking had been factored into earnings.

"We've already taken the big hit," he said. "It's already in those numbers and we believe there is only upside going forward."

The company had earlier this week reached a $1 billion upfront ad deal with media agency WPP Group, the first major agreement of the upfront season when TV networks sell as much as 80 percent of their advertising time in advance.

DIGITAL REV ABOVE $1 BLN IN 2008

NBC, in which Vivendi owns a minority stake, has come under greater investor scrutiny in the last year for lagging profits. Some have revived speculation that GE may spin off its media unit, among others, to focus on core businesses.

GE has said it has no plans to sell its NBC Universal business, nor is it looking to make additional acquisitions in the industry amid a spate of large buyouts and mergers.

NBC Universal executives also touted demand for programs on new forms of media distribution, estimating that it accounts for 50 percent of the most popular shows downloaded on a given day from Apple Inc.'s iTunes entertainment store.

Digital revenue from Internet sites and related properties are expected to reach $1 billion this year and grow an additional 50 percent in 2008, a year ahead of forecast.

"The media pie is definitely getting bigger," said NBC Universal Integrated Media President Beth Comstock. "We're ahead of plan in terms of the profitability and the revenue we're able to bring about in digital."

Reuters